Fairy Tail: The Ninja Mage
by TyForestWrites2
Summary: (Book 1) Things aren't great in the life of Kato Kobaruto. Sure, he was a pretty powerful fighter in the Fairy Tail Guild, as well as best friends with Erza "Titania" Scarlet. But if you really knew him, you would feel pretty bad for the guy. So many bottled up emotions and feelings... Pairings include: Nalu, Gruvia, Jerza, Gajevy, Miraxus, Elfgreen, etc.
1. Prologue: Heaven’s Tower

**Man, my notifications box is gonna explode after I publish this... Hey guys, this is TyForestGames, and I'm back to write my first Fairy Tail fanfic (well, technically, since I have a Navia one shot on ...)! Okay, just a fair warning: This is going to be the LONGEST book I've ever written. No competition. And considering how long Fairy Tail is, you shouldn't be all that surprised.**

 **Seeing as how it is so freaking long, just in case I would hit a chapter limit, I've separated it into two parts/books. This first book is Fairy Tail, while the second will start where Fairy Tail 2014 started.**

 **Also, you'll probably notice a large gap comparison when it comes to chapter length. Considering how many episodes there are, there's bound to be a lot of chapters where there's little content, since it's focused on Kato, and he may have little interaction with anything/anybody.**

 **Everything else you need to know is in the description. Enjoy!**

 **XXX**

 **Prologue: The Tower of Heaven**

Kato Kobaruto didn't remember much about his childhood before the Tower of Heaven. He remembered there being a lot of fire before he was snatched up by a cult member. Kato had done so kicking and screaming before one of the cult guys finally got annoyed and knocked Kato out cold.

The cobalt haired boy woke up again, this time handcuffed, in a cold prison cell with five other kids; four guys and one girl. One of the guys had very block-like features, another had black hair, the girl had orange hair and slightly slanted eyes, and another boy had dark skin and blonde hair. But the final boy caught his attention. He had blue hair, darker than Kato's light blue hair, and had a weird red tattoo on his right eye.

The group introduced themselves as Wally, Simon, Millianna, Shô, and Jellal. Jellal, who seemed to be the leader, explained that they were in a place called The Tower of Heaven. However, the name was very misleading. The cultists here enslave children to build the tower, all in the hope to resurrect their dark overlord, Zeref the Black Wizard.

It was hell on earth. Though Kato did question the cultists' motives for using children to build this tower, when adults would have been much more efficient. But hey, hard to tell that to people who whip you constantly on a daily basis. But during this time, he met an old man who was unfortunate enough to work in this hell: Rob, a previous member of the magic guild known as Fairy Tail. Whenever they found the freedom, Rob would tell Kato the tales of magic and his adventures with Fairy Tail. Of course, these little talks were few in number, but they helped keep the boy going.

A week of back breaking and whip cracking labor (and a few escape attempts) later, everything changed. All with the arrival of a certain red haired girl.

 **XXX**

 **Okay, I'll fully admit. The only reason I'm releasing this now is because the Fairy Tail manga is close to concluding, and I wanted to do something to commemorate the event. However, I will not start up this story in quite some time. I'll maybe start it when I finish up my First Metalbender series.**

 **Fun fact: Kato's last name, Kobaruto, is actually Japanese for cobalt. Or at least that's what Google Translate says. So yeah, I wanted something about his name to be like Erza's, so I took the hair color idea and typed Kato's hair color into Google Translate and voila! Kobaruto. But anyway, I hope you enjoyed this prologue, because the first chapter will be insane once I get around to it. Till next time guys!**


	2. Chapter 1: Kato vs Jellal

**Sorry if the beginning is a bit rushed. To be completely honest, I didn't want to scour through the Tower of Heaven Arc to search for specifics. So if I get a few facts wrong, forgive me. I just got lazy with the beginning.**

 **XXX**

 **Chapter 1: Kato vs. Jellal**

While the arrival of Erza Scarlet (last name given to her by Jellal) did boost the morale of the other kids, that boost didn't last very long.

There were a few escape attempts after that, thought up by Rob, Jellal, and Kato, all of which failed. However, it was the last time they were caught that made all the difference. Erza had taken the blame for leading the attempt and was taken away to be tortured. She was gone for who knows how long before Kato and Jellal broke in and rescued her.

And she was missing her right eye. Angered at this, Kato vowed to make the cultists pay for what they did as he and Jellal helped carry Erza out. However, things didn't last very long, as more guards appeared. Erza was taken back to her cell, but Jellal and Kato had been dragged away.

And that's where we are now.

 **XXX**

Kato screamed as another shock of electricity surged through him. He and Jellal had been separated and placed in two separate rooms, but both likely were equally as painful.

"You like that, kid?" one of the cultists taunted.

The electricity stopped for a second allowing Kato to catch his breath. But he just smiled, much to the cultists' annoyance. Every time they had stopped, the boy would just smile, indicating that they were getting nowhere with him.

"You can hurt me as much as you want," Kato spoke, still grinning, "But you won't break me. Not now, not ever."

One cultist, who appeared to be of higher rank than the other two, growled, finally having enough, and pointed to one of the underlings, "You! Go get _it_."

The underling flinched, "B-But sir! If it got out-"

" _I'm aware!_ " The leader shouted, "I've had enough of this kid. Let's show him what true pain is like."

As the henchman ran off, Kato just said mockingly, "A last resort? I'm flattered. You gonna take my eye too?"

The leader just looked at the boy and grinned maliciously, "You won't be talking like that once we unleash this thing on you."

"Ooh, scary," Kato continued to mock.

Before the leader could retort, the underling ran back in carrying a strange looking clay jar. It had all sorts of weird symbols and glyphs on it. Not really anything that looked all that intimidating. But Kato couldn't help but get a bad feeling about it.

The leader took the jar and waved it in front of Kato's face, "You see this jar, kid? In it contains a captured demon from the Book of Zeref. You wouldn't believe the trouble we had to go through to get it. But it serves its purpose. Witness it."

The leader opened the jar, the top pointing towards Kato, and red light shone from the inside and onto the kid's face. But the pain that came from it was nothing like Kato had ever felt before. It wasn't physical pain, something someone like Kato could tolerate. No, it was something else. Mental pain. Kato nearly lost his grip on reality. He screamed the loudest he had ever before and would give anything for the pain to stop. To close that lid.

But then, just as he was slipping, words that Rob had told him and Erza entered his mind.

 _"Everything starts with the firm belief in your heart. Things such as tarots, faith, and religion are various forms of magic. They are miracles that occur to only those who believe."_

Fueled by the belief in his old friend's words, Kato gritted his teeth and opened his eyes, concentrating. He felt a tingling sensation down his back and his hands began to glow with pure, red colored energy. This was magic. Shocked by this, the two underlings got nervous and backed off. But the leader just gritted his teeth and stood his ground.

Suddenly, the energy in Kato's hands burnt through the rope, causing it to snap. Surprised, the leader stepped back, but Kato lunged at him, or more specifically, the jar. Energy still in his hand, Kato punched the jar out of the cultist's hands, the jar shattering when it hit the floor. At this, the two underlings screamed and ran for their lives.

"No!!" the leader panicked before Kato punched him back into the wall.

The leader got up, glaring murderously at Kato, "You fool!! Do you realize what you've done?!"

Before Kato could respond, a dark, booming voice echoed around the room.

 **"Free..."**

And red and black cloud of mist rose from the remains of the jar and began to circle the room. The cultist looked like he wanted to shrink into the wall behind him, fear building. The head of the mist looked at the cultist, analyzing him.

 **"Weak."**

Suddenly, a misty spike formed from the cloud and impaled the cultist right in the heart. The man fell to the ground without a word. Dead. The mist then turned to Kato, who was admittedly frightened by whatever this mist is. But he didn't back down. As the mist analyzed him, Kato formed another ball of energy in his hand. Finally, the mist spoke.

 **"Strong... MINE."**

The mist zoomed towards Kato before he could even react. The last thing the boy remembered before blacking out was the cloud surrounding him as laughter filled the room.

 **XXX**

"Jellal... please, open your eyes!"

"My eyes are open."

Erza gasped as magical energy began to restrain her. Jellal lifted her into the air and towards him. It was all surreal to her. Due to Rob sacrificing his life for her, Erza had discovered her magic and had successfully led the revolt against the cultists. Afterward, she went to find Kato and Jellal. Finding the latter first, she freed him. But now... something was terribly wrong.

Jellal's attitude had taken a complete one-eighty. He had become what they were fighting against.

"You have outlived your usefulness," Jellal said, "However, I shall allow you to live. Since you have helped by eliminating those who stand in my way, you will leave this island and be drenched in that transient freedom of yours."

"However," Jellal continued as she got within arm's length, "You shall not mention this to anyone. Should the authorities find out about the Tower of Heaven, things would get complicated."

Jellal grabbed her chin, "If you try to tell anyone about it, I will destroy this tower and everyone within it. Also, you are prohibited from coming to this place. If you even set one foot here..."

Jellal leaned in and whispered in her ear, "I will kill the rest of your friends. Starting with Kato."

Erza began to tear up, "Jellal..."

"This will be your freedom!!" Jellal announced, "Live knowing that the fates of your friends rest on you, Erza!!

Suddenly, a red burst of energy exploded right at their feet. A bit startled, Jellal threw Erza aside and glared in the direction the energy came from.

"Who dares?!" he yelled.

And out of a hole in the wall, footsteps could be heard coming towards them. Erza looked up as a small figure came out of the darkness. It was Kato.

Erza smiled in relief and joy, "Kato!"

But then she noticed something was wrong. And then she heard something that sent chills down her spine. Kato was _laughing_. And not the good kind of laughter. The maniacal kind. On the back of both of his hands and on the middle of his forehead, there were identical strange symbols that glowed red.

But then she saw his eyes, even though they were barely visible behind his light blue hair. They were pure red. No whites, no pupils, just... blood red. As Kato walked, he was hunched over like a zombie. But his chuckles were still heard loud and clear as he stopped a few feet away from them, still hunched over.

Jellal stared at him before smiling wickedly.

"I see you've made it out, Kato," he said, "It looks as if Lord Zeref has spoken to you as well. Have you come to join me? We would be kings of a new order under our Lord!"

But then something striked Jellal as... odd about Kato. While the boy did seem to be listening, Kato seemed... out of it. He seemed barely able to contain laughter. But Jellal chalked it up to a side-effect from talking to Zeref. Perhaps Kato got lucky and talked longer with the black wizard.

But then, Kato began to chuckle louder, and Erza was starting to get frightened. First Jellal, now Kato? This couldn't be happening! And when Kato spoke, his voice was deeper and had a slight echo. And his answer admittedly sent chills down Jellal's spine.

 **"What is a king to a god?"**

And Kato lunged at Jellal and grabbed his face before the other boy could react. Kato smashed Jellal into the ground and began to punch him rapidly, pummeling him. Jellal struck back, pushing Kato back with his hand, using magic to propel the other boy off.

But Kato barely seemed affected. Yes, he was pushed off, but he wasn't sent flying. Jellal's magic affected him as much as a hard shove. Whatever had happened to Kato had certainly made him significantly more powerful. And Jellal didn't like it one bit. Jellal growled and pounced, the two boys beginning to trade punches.

Erza was sitting on the ground, quivering in fear. What on earth had happened to cause her two best friends to behave as they are now? Then Kato punched Jellal so hard, Jellal went flying into the rocky wall. And Kato turned to Erza, who was frozen in terror for a second before actually noticing Kato's look. For a split second, his eyes were normal again. But they were flickering between normal and red just as quickly.

" **R** u **n**! Kato ordered her, grasping his head, as if in pain, " **G** e **t** o **u** t **o** f **h** e **r** e"

Erza wasn't one to argue when this kind of situation was at hand. She wanted to run. She wanted out of this accursed place as soon as possible. But at the same time, she wasn't leaving without Kato. He was fighting for her and she was not going to abandon him, even if he wasn't acting right. She grabbed a nearby sword and stood.

"No!" she replied, "I won't leave you! I-"

Kato turned back to her, his hand raised, silencing her. His eyes were back to being blood red and a ball of red energy appeared, ready to blast her. Erza flinched and gasped.

Kato sneered, **"Stay out of my way."**

Without another word, the energy ball dissipated, and Kato turned and charged at a recovering Jellal. Erza stood in place for a few moments, frozen in fear. By the time she processed what was going on, she found herself torn. She wanted to run away more than anything, but she also didn't want to leave Kato behind.

All because of that moment of weakness. Kato may not be acting right, but when he told Erza to run, his true self had shone through. He was still in there. His situation wasn't like Jellal's. Kato still had some level of control. Jellal didn't.

The fight raged on, Erza trying to find out a good time to jump in. The two boys clashed, locking hands, forehead against forehead, sparks of magic swirling around them. Finally, Kato head butted Jellal, knocking the boy away. That's when Erza stepped in, pouncing on Kato's back, trying to pull him away.

"Kato!! Stop!!" she begged, "We need to leave!! Now!!!"

 **"I said..."** Kato growled, grabbing her arm, **"Out of my way!!"**

Kato threw her back, causing her to cry out in pain when hitting the ground. However, when he heard that, a flash of pain hit Kato's mind.

 **"No..."** he growled at himself, **"I'm in control...!"**

Unfortunately, that left him wide open. A blast of magic energy from Jellal hit Kato in the back, sending the boy flying and landing right next to Erza. Kato grabbed his head in pain again. And finally let everything out in a pain-filled scream.

Red energy burst out of his mouth and into the sky, fading out after a few seconds, Erza staring at him in disbelief. Then the symbol on his forehead disappeared completely, as did the symbols on his hands, but the tracings on those were still visible. After this, Kato passed out, Erza catching him before his head hit the ground.

The scarlet haired girl then looked to Jellal, whose face was rage-filled, and he yelled, "LEAVE!!! I never want to see you two on this island ever again!!!"

Erza did not hesitate. She ran out of the Tower of Heaven as fast as she could, Kato in tow.

 **XXX**

 **I don't know why I'm releasing this early. I guess I'm just feeling generous. That, and I've been rewatching Fairy Tail with my friend Haley, who has never seen it (she loves it by the way). It's fun. Till next time guys!**


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